The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 eBook

“Vibhandaka said, ’Those are, O son!
Rakshasas. They walk about in that wonderfully
beautiful form. Their strength is unrivalled and
their beauty great And they always meditate obstruction
to the practice of penances. And, O my boy, they
assume lovely forms and try to allure by diverse means.
And those fierce beings hurled the saints, the dwellers
of the woods, from blessed regions (won by their pious
deeds) And the saint who hath control over his soul,
and who is desirous of obtaining the regions where
go the righteous, ought to have nothing to do with
them. And their acts are vile and their delight
is in causing obstruction to those who practise penance;
(therefore) a pious man should never look at them.
And, O son! those were drinks unworthy to be drunk,
being as they were spirituous liquors consumed by
unrighteous men. And these garlands, also, bright
and fragrant and of various hues, are not intended
for saints.’ Having thus forbidden his
son by saying that those were wicked demons, Vibhandaka
went in quest of her. And when by three day’s
search he was unable to trace where she was he then
came back to his own hermitage. In the meanwhile,
when the son of Kasyapa had gone out to gather fruits,
then that very courtesan came again to tempt Rishyasringa
in the manner described above. And as soon as
Rishyasringa had her in sight, he was glad and hurriedly
rushing towards him said, ’Let us go to thy hermitage
before the return of my father.’ Then, O
king! those same courtesans by contrivances made the
only son of Kasyapa enter their bark, and unmoored
the vessel. And by various means they went on
delighting him and at length came to the side of Anga’s
king. And leaving then that floating vessel of
an exceedingly white tint upon the water, and having
placed it within sight of the hermitage, he similarly
prepared a beautiful forest known by the name of the
Floating Hermitage. The king, however, kept that
only son of Vibhandaka within that part of the palace
destined for the females when of a sudden he beheld
that rain was poured by the heavens and that the world
began to be flooded with water. And Lomapada,
the desire of his heart fulfilled, bestowed his daughter
Santa on Rishyasringa in marriage. And with a
view to appease the wrath of his father, he ordered
kine to be placed, and fields to be ploughed, by the
road that Vibhandaka was to take, in order to come
to his son. And the king also placed plentiful
cattle and stout cowherds, and gave the latter the
following order:

“When the great saint Vibhandaka should enquire
of you about his son, ye must join your palms and
say to him that these cattle, and these ploughed fields
belong to his son and that ye are his slaves, and that
ye are ready to obey him in all that he might bid.’
Now the saint, whose wrath was fierce, came to his
hermitage, having gathered fruits and roots and searched
for his son. But not finding him he became exceedingly
wroth. And he was tortured with anger and suspected